The present invention relates to backpacks. In particular, the present invention relates to a backpack for use in holding and transporting clothing, miscellaneous equipment, and various gear for outdoor recreation or other activity wherein a need exists for a device which can be used comfortably to haul a range of lesser or greater and varying loads. The use of backpacks is known and widely established. An example of a “standard” backpack is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,873 to Schweitzer. The variety and extent of backpacks extend from small and lightweight daypacks such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,166 to Leja, to larger and heavier duty backpacks such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,188 to Gleason. While there are many exceptional and useful backpacks in the prior art, it is in general a fact that they are fairly uniform in their individual purposes. For example, it wouldn't be practical to use a small daypack as a personal protective sleeping habitat on a camping trip, just as it is impractical to use a large and bulky expeditionary backpack as a personal protective sleeping habitat. Yet with the advancement of protective species acts and the related proliferation of predatory mammals such as bears and wolves and in instances of a predatory animals not having fear of human interaction, there are activities in which it is desirable to have a single backpack, which is generally compact, but which has the built-in potential to also function as a protective habitat as a barrier. In the example of the activity backpacking in the outdoors, there is a common desire for a load packing device of sufficient volume for hauling necessities for a prolonged outing, as well as a common desire to minimize the hazards when sleeping in the outdoors from ambush of that of predatory animals and from dangerous insects, reptiles and other environmental hazards. Many such stories exist where a sleeping outdoor camper finds themselves being attacked or fed upon and killed by bear or other predatory animal while sleeping. Such a protected sleep barrier is not typically suited to the carriage of quantities of loads on the back where the backpack form has the versatility to be transformed from one form into the other.
There are diverse examples in the prior art of backpacks which are devised for the carriage of meat, and others that alter configuration or load volume in some fashion. U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,333 to Tucker, et al. discloses a meat carrying backpack, but it can be seen that it doesn't fulfill the need of a protective occupy-able habitat for purposes of protective sleep. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,619 to Boyar, the prior art contains examples of backpacks which are devised to be transformed into existence from out of another form, in this case a purse, but this dearly wouldn't be suitable for the purpose described herein. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,382 to Wyant, an expansion gusset is disclosed, which is an example of a means of expanding the volumetric carrying capacity of a specific compartment within a backpack. In this case, however, the change in dimension that is affected is not significant enough to be of use as an occupancy habitat.
Other designs exist which comprise efforts to have a backpack with a flexible load carrying volume. These however pertain to load carrying and are not pertaining to the purposes of a combination expanded sleeping refuge form and an un-expanded form for load carrying. Some are fitted with laced drawstrings or adjustable straps which can compress the cargo space of a pack into its most diminished form. These are excellent in their place, and some may be of use to a camper, but nonetheless it is generally true that these backpacks do not significantly after their form, and do not significantly have the capacity to increase their volume. If they are large enough to be of use in hauling larger things, they do not deploy so sufficiently to occupy and also do not compress sufficiently for use as a backpack.
While backpacks similar to those in the prior art have somewhat fulfilled the transportation and storage requirements of outdoorsmen to date, there exists a need to have backpacks which have better and more convenient deployable additional capability, and offer a greater range of versatility than prior art backpacks. In particular, with a greater and more widely prevalent emphasis on adventure, personal fitness, and personal mobility, many hunters, campers, outdoorsmen and outdoor adventurers are traveling great distances on their feet. In the example of such an activity, there is an incumbent need to also have a level of protection in the outdoors from the natural predatory instincts of predatory animals, and from other environmental risks. It is submitted that the present invention substantially meets these needs.